Court ruling doesn’t solve Ohio wind project’s problems

Even with a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling in its favor, a large southwest Ohio wind project is still facing hurdles.

The court this month backed up regulators’ approval of the project to build at least 54 wind turbines in Champaign County after some residents argued that a regulatory board had wrongly left staff members to decide details of the project.

But the $20 million Buckeye Wind project still needs to work through issues related to taxes and roads before it can move forward. The county and Everpower Renewables, the company in charge of the project, have not yet begun discussions on the remaining issues, but Everpower says some form of tax abatement will be needed for the project to move forward.

County officials are excited about the revenue the project could generate for the county, townships and school districts, but some have concerns about the effect on property values, and others say a road agreement is necessary to protect thoroughfares from heavy equipment traffic during construction (AP/FuelFix, March 20). — AS